In 2013, new record high temperatures at 20 m depth were measured at two northernmost permafrost observatories on the North Slope of Alaska, in the Brooks Range, Alaska, and in the High Canadian Arctic,
where measurements began in the late 1970s. During the last fifteen years (1998-2012), active-layer thickness has increased in the Russian European North, northern East Siberia and Chukotka. In 2012 in west Siberia, the active-layer thickness
was the greatest observed since 1996, and in the Russian European North it was the greatest observed since measurements began in 1998.

Summary

(Plain Language Summary, not published)This article is the permafrost contribution to the Arctic Report Card, an annual peer-reviewed report providing clear, reliable information on the
current state of the Arctic environmental system relative to historical records. Information acquired from the Global Terrestrial Network for Permafrost (to which Canada contributes) indicates that permafrost continues to warm across the circumpolar
region and in some regions such as the Canadian High Arctic the permafrost temperatures are the highest they have been in the past 3-4 decades. Since permafrost is an important component of the northern landscape, knowledge of how conditions are
changing is essential for planning adaptation to a changing climate and to support decisions regarding northern development.